Intro to coding and software development.
A computer takes input, stores information, processes the data, and returns output. Computers were once the size of a room. That a computer takes input allows the user to direct the tasks of the computer. Memory allows it to retain information as it processses it and the processing functionality allows it to solve equations or provide answers that help the user. To be able to give output is how computers provide processed or stored data to a user which gives it purpose.
Computers think in terms of yes/no, on/off, 0/1… Since computers are electrical constructs this binary nature stems from a wire that conducts electricity either has a current or it does not. All data can be represented in a numerical fashion. All numbers we use can be rendered down to zero’s and one’s if those digits are grouped together as bits and bytes.
Circuits conduct electricity when on, or the don’t while off. This on/off nature represents the zero’s and one’s that make up all data. A single circuit reading on or off gives us a ‘not’ function. Two circuits leading to one output represents the logic of ‘and’. Two circuits in and out allows us to add. Many adder’s together are used to handle larger numbers. Computers work by doing simple calculations a human could do, except a computer can do many many of these calculations at a time, way more than a human mind can actively process.
Part of a computer is the devices that take in input, like the keyboard. The keyboard converts a letter to a binary number. The cpu calculates what that number represents, and sends it to storage, and then after processing what it means to a greater whole, it calculates that number representing the keypress into a number that visually represents the graphic of that letter pressed and sends it to the screen to be ouput.
The CPU controls all other parts of the computer. It has some circuits to calculate numbers, and other circuits that relay input and outport, and other circuits that send the signals to memory. Drawing a rectangle on the screen takes hundreds of smaller calculations. Software directs the CPU to act in different ways. Multiple software programs can run at the same time. The operating system directs the multiple programs allowing them to share the same CPU.